Benjamin Baker – Waratah, Mayfield

A significant purchaser of Charles Simpson’s land was Benjamin Baker who we saw was also at New Freugh with George Gray and Edmund Bull and was in February 1851 on a NSW Government Gazette unclaimed letter as ‘Benjamin Baker, Newcastle’ just as Charles Simpson was listed in April.

Of interest to the early settlement of ‘the folly’ again looking at births, baptism, marriage and death records are always worth looking at. A descendent of the family Sandra Boyd has been a great help in tracing a further connection between the Gray, Bull and Baker families. Ben and Elizabeth’s daughter Mary Ann Baker is recorded in the Parish of Whittingham Baptismal records on 19 November 1848, with their Abode recorded as ‘New Freugh’ where Ben is working as a ‘Carpenter’. This is a clear link between all three families with all living at New Freugh at that time.

The next record is again a link between the three families is the baptism of Ben and Elizabeth’s next daughter, Elizabeth Jane stating their Abode this time as ‘Newcastle’ in February 1851. This aligns with the birth of Georgina Gray at Waratah in June 1851 and the Bull’s son William in August 1851.

References

1. _{Unclaimed Letters – NSW Government Gazette February 1851}